OHIO VALLEY KARTING ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2006

 

 

CALL TO ORDER: President Randy Vermillion called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. at Ramada Inn, Middletown, Ohio. 

 

OPENING REMARKS: Randy Vermillion asked that cell phones be turned off or on vibrate mode.  Vermillion welcomed Gerald Whaling back following his surgery

 

SECRETARYS' REPORT: Lynda Whitaker made a motion to accept the February minutes as published.  The motion was seconded by Hal Thornton and passed unanimously.  

 

TREASURERS' REPORT: on behalf of Gary Gregg, Rick Coombs provided an update on finances.    

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

BANQUET COMMITTEE: Rick Coombs reported there might be a scheduling conflict with Kings Island Resort for the 2006 banquet.  More will be known by the end of the week.  He asked the board if they would consider going back to Holiday Inn Dayton Mall.  Steve Smith responded he feels Holiday Inn is centrally located and has better facilities for the children.  Hal Thornton discussed security issues that arose in the past at Holiday Inn.  Ray McKibben suggested checking with Miami Township police to see if off-duty officers could be hired.  Tim Bell said the quantity and quality of the food at Holiday Inn was an issue.  Mark Lewis reminded the board some people did not even get any food.  Coombs stated both of these matters would have to be addressed with the facility.  Randy Vermillion said Coombs needs the leeway to contract with either facility depending on their availability.  Smith said pricing needs to be considered as well.

 

RULES COMMITTEE: Lynda Whitaker explained a recommendation of the Rules Committee was omitted in the draft rulebook presented to the board, which was approved last month.  Specifically, it involves the tiebreaker method.  Whitaker explained the recommendation was for “ Ties in points after the 3rd heat are broken by who had the fastest time from all three heats and if still tied, who had the best finish in heat 3” rather than if still tied, who had the lowest draw number.  Max Viney, seconded, by Rick Coombs, made a motion to correct the oversight.  The motion passed unanimously.  Randy Vermillion explained that discontinuing publishing the monthly Exhaust newsletter had been discussed at previous meetings but no action taken.  Now that the website has been updated, Vermillion feels the matter needs to be addressed in order to cut out the significant expense of the newsletter.  Vermillion made a motion to discontinue publishing and mailing the Exhaust monthly newsletter.  The motion was seconded by Steve Smith.  Nick Ouwerkerk amended the motion to allow one additional mailing to go out with a statement on the front page that this will be the last mailing.  The amendment was seconded by Hal Thornton and passed with 8 in favor and 2 opposed.  Vermillion’s motion was then voted on and passed unanimously.  Vermillion said an annual mailing would still be sent that would include the notice of the annual meeting & banquet, membership application and pit spot reservation form.

 

SPONSORSHIP: Randy Vermillion reported he and Hal Thornton continue to work on promoting sponsorships and have acquired a couple of new sponsors.  Anyone with suggestions for potential sponsors should contact Vermillion or Thornton.

 

SHOWS & PROMOTIONS: Max Viney asked for help providing karts to display at the Lang Chevrolet Show sponsored by DARF this coming weekend.  He said karts need to be dropped off Friday evening and picked up Sunday afternoon.  Nick Ouwerkerk will be providing a Yamaha pipe and Randy Vermillion will provide a Kid Kart.  Viney, who will be setting up the booth, said a Briggs, Shifter or TaG kart is needed, as well as people to staff the booth Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Volunteers will receive a participation credit for working a four-hour shift.  Don Boles said there is a $5.00 admission charge to the show.  Steve Smith explained proceeds go to DARF who uses the funds to supply Christmas gifts to needy children.  Vermillion reported there was a good turnout at the KMI Show last month.  OVKA information was distributed and a number of people expressed interest in coming to race or visit with us.  There were informative seminars including Track Management, Data Acquisition, Karting 101 and Creating Powerful Websites.  Vermillion said it was a great opportunity to network with people in the karting industry.  Thank you to those who staffed the OVKA show booth: Don Boles, Rick Coombs, Ed Kesse, Rob Lehmann, Randy Vermillion, Max Viney, Lynda Whitaker and Bob Williams.  WKA presented awards to several OVKA drivers for their finished in the Weekly Racing Series.  Congratulations to Remy Brundage, Robin Brundage, Josh Childers, Shinya Michimi, Randall Potter (for 2 classes) and Brenton Whitaker (for 2 classes).  Vermillion explained it is necessary to reserve booth space now for next year and made a motion to appropriate $312.50.  The motion was seconded by Don Boles and passed unanimously.  Ouwerkerk will represent OVKA at DARF Promoters Night on Tuesday, March 28th and offer the same practice of reimbursing DARF members one OVKA gate fee per person per year.  Ouwerkerk provided OVKA flyers to Competition Racing (indoor karting facility) in Lawrenceburg.  Ray McKibben offered to distribute OVKA information at a car show in Kettering this summer.  Vermillion reported he participated in a phone interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer.  Steve Smith said Courtney Hannah will be a guest on Clear Channel radio In Dayton Monday, March 13th.  Vermillion discussed the need for someone to write articles and submit them to various newspapers and magazines.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

WKA CHEST PROTECTION REQUIREMENT: Randy Vermillion reminded everyone that as of December 26, 2005, WKA now requires the use of chest protection in Kid Kart and Sportsman-age classes (12 years and younger) in all series.  More information can be found on the WKA website.  He reported that Team Valhalla was at our Swap Meet and said they will upgrade the Armadilla chest protectors.  Tim Bell said there are three companies whose chest protectors are certified and are listed on WKA’s website.    

 

2006 WORKERS: Randy Vermillion reported he anticipates a continued struggle filling corner worker positions this upcoming season.  He asked for assistance in locating people 18 years of age or older with some racing knowledge who would be willing to work this position.  Contact Vermillion or Lynda Whitaker.

 

DRIVING SCHOOL: Randy Vermillion discussed the need for someone to work with Nick Ouwerkerk at the driving school on Saturday, April 8th, to be trained to take it over in 2007.  Contact Ouwerkerk or Vermillion. 

 

CLEAN-UP DAY: Randy Vermillion explained there is a lot of work to be done to prepare for the season including painting, putting out straw bales, installing new flags, repairing fencing, resetting barrier walls and general clean-up.  Volunteers are needed and will earn a participation credit for working a four-hour shift.   Vermillion made a motion to appropriate $1,000 for workday supplies and food.  The motion was seconded by Steve Smith and passed with 8 in favor and 2 abstained.  Nick Ouwerkerk offered to help with pressure washing one week prior. 

 

HELMET STICKERS: Nick Ouwerkerk explained there has been a price increase for helmet stickers and made a motion to appropriate $315.  The motion was seconded by Steve Smith and passed unanimously.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

COMPUTER SOFTWARE: Randy Vermillion and Lynda Whitaker presented information about a software program that integrates registration, membership, scoring and points maintenance.  Don Boles explained he saw it demonstrated and feels it has a lot of flexibility.  Vermillion explained this program is in use by North Texas Raceway and was recently purchased by the Southern Indiana Racing Association.  The software designer can customize it to meet our needs and will refund our money if it does not work out for us.  Vermillion said it makes sense to purchase this new software now rather than later since we will be training a new AMB operator.  Rick Coombs made a motion to appropriate $3,800 for the Lightning Event Management Event software.  The motion was seconded by Nick Ouwerkerk and passed with 8 in favor and 2 abstained.

 

SPECTATOR AREA: Randy Vermillion said having participated in shows and promotions for a couple of years now, he feels there is a need to make improvements to the spectator area at Camden.  He discussed how OVKA representatives invite many people to come visit but there isn’t a very nice area where they can watch from.  He suggested the board look at ways this area can be upgraded such as adding more bleachers and a port-a-john.

 

BOARD MEMBER RESIGNATION: Randy Vermillion said it is with regret he has accepted the resignation of Rick Wagar from the OVKA Board of Directors.  He thanked Wagar for his years of serving as a board member, as well as Race Director and on several committees.  Wagar received a round of applause.

 

BOARD MEMBER NOMINATIONS:  Don Boles nominated Box Cox and Max Viney nominated Doug Stempfley, II to the OVKA Board of Directors.  Per OVKA bylaws, the vote on these nominations will take place next month.

 

OPEN DISCUSSION:

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Don Boles reported there was a nice article in the Dayton newspaper about the Snell family. 

 

PIT SPOTS: Rick Coombs reminded everyone that pit spot reservations need to be in by March 10, 2006 in order to retain the same spot from last year. 

 

VISITOR’S LOG: Ray McKibben suggested having a log for visitor’s to sign then following up with them.  He agreed to take charge of this and inquired how visitor passes can be obtained.  Randy Vermillion explained that kart shops have the opportunity to purchase visitor passes subsidized by the club.  Potential visitors can be referred to local kart shops that choose to participate in this program coordinated by Bob Cox.

 

NEXT MEETING: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, 2006, at Ramada Inn Middletown, 6147 West State Route 122, Franklin, OH (east side of I-75)

 

ADJOURNMENT: A motion to adjourn at 9:22 p.m. was made by Nick Ouwerkerk, seconded by Tim Bell and passed unanimously.

 

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: T. Bell, D. Boles, B. Brundage, R. Coombs, R. Landes, M. Lewis, N. Ouwerkerk,  S. Smith,

H. Thornton, R. Vermillion, and M. Viney.

 

MEMBERS / VISITORS PRESENT: D. Benson, S. Benson, L. Cobb, R. Cox, J. Hartings, V. Hartings, D. Lawson, R. McKibben, S. McKibben, T. Michimi, Randall Potter, Randy Potter, James Robbins, Jean Robbins, D. Stempfley, G. Whaling, L. Whitaker, and B. Williams.

 

Respectfully submitted by Lynda Whitaker, OVKA Secretary, 3/28/06.